How Do Our Brains Use Our Experiences to Evolve/Create Information?

 Jonathan Falcone, Verrazzano Class of 2022, completed major in Psychology and minor in History 

Doing this capstone was truthfully much more work than I had anticipated it to be, but I was happy to do it and I learned a lot from it.

In my research I read article after article, journal after journal, gaining information in for my topic, which is about our memory. I already had an idea about some of the information, which certainly helped, but not knowing a lot of it was difficult. 

Certain forms of memory I wasn’t even aware existed. I carefully considered every word I wrote to try my best to make sure anything I said was not incorrect, as I did not want to spread any misinformation.  And still, my first draft was… ugly LOL! Thankfully, my mentor was an expert in the field and was able to point me in the direction of better and more accurate information.

Throughout my capstone, and the many, many edits I had to make, I also learned how to find better materials for research. I found out how to find more trustworthy resources and sift through journal articles and scientific papers for the best and most accurate information.

I have learned how to construct a cohesive APA formatted research article and how to gain valuable and accurate information, as well as deciding which articles I am able to find as trustworthy.  

Peace in the Middle East? The Role of Israeli-Palestinian Peace Plans in the Ongoing Conflict

Sandra Abdella, Verrazzano Class of 2022, completed majors in Economics and Political Science and minor in Legal Studies 

Writing my thesis has summed up the majority of my final semester at the College of Staten Island. I started out with little to no knowledge about the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict. I can now confidently say that I learned an immense amount of information on the conflict, the peace plans, and some reasons as to why peace has not yet been achieved.

My paper was about the conflict between the two territories, and the obstacles that contributed to the failure of reaching a viable solution up to today. It delved into three main roadblocks that I think had the most significant roles in the conflict. The United States Involvement, the Oslo Accords, and the domestic infighting within Israel and Palestine were analyzed and discussed throughout the paper.

My main takeaway from this thesis is that research is time consuming and difficult, but not impossible. The 25 pages took me about two months to finish writing. The research component started 3 months before that. To simply start the process, I bought a book and read through it once. I became confident in my topic and went back to annotate the same book again. It became easier after that because I chose a specific section of the conflict that I wanted to focus on and dived deeper into it. I read some articles to familiarize myself with broad concepts, and then found more scholarly articles and books that taught me more about peace plans and the road to peace.

To write the paper, I began by creating an outline for myself and started to write directly on the outline. By adding in bits and pieces all over the outline wherever I knew what I wanted to say without a specific sequence, I was able to gather my thoughts collectively and then organize them at a later time.

In my opinion, the most difficult part of the process was gathering research. Many sources were apparently biased from the start and others were opinion pieces instead of objective statements. It was challenging to read through the biases and collect the facts in order to analyze the events on my own. All in all, it was a fun experience and I am proud to say that I was able to finish it all with the help of my mentor, Professor Peter Kabachnik, PhD, Geography.

Researching Process of The Harlem Nine and School Integration

 Aurora Haxhari, Verrazzano Class of 2022, completed major in History (7-12) 

Working on this research project was definitely a process that took long hours of preparation before even getting into the work itself. Picking a topic was a process because with history, the options are endless. However, with my passion for education and activism, it was not hard for me to wind up with my decision. Researching the Harlem Nine and school integration in the ‘50s and ‘60s in New York City was really exciting for me. When my faculty mentor Professor John Dixon told me about the Harlem Nine, I did some research on them and was hooked.

This project took many days of reading, reading, and more reading. Since the Harlem Nine was a small group and case, it was pretty difficult to find many primary and even secondary sources. However, with help from Professor Dixon, I was able to find enough sources to help me build my research. Throughout this process, I learned that I could get help from others. I even have a friend in law school who was able to gain access to the actual court case because she had free access to old cases through her school. This was of great help because I was able to read the detailed case which helped me improve my understanding and argument.

I learned that the process of completing research varies for many people. For me, I found it most effective to outline the headings and subheadings of my research and then divide the sources I would use within each section. Then, I worked on one section at a time. In order to avoid feeling overwhelmed, which could happen often, I broke down my work and due dates with Professor Dixon. Knowing that my first draft would be due in early April, I broke down each section of the paper, placing due dates on myself, and working on it over a few weeks.

During the semester, I was balancing student teaching at Port Richmond High School, working at my part-time job every day after student teaching, and being a part of two cheerleading teams (a non-profit team and CSI cheerleading). This was definitely trying at times, but I knew I could get it done. Researching something I was passionate about made it much more exciting and less stressful. I learned that despite being challenging while juggling so much in life, learning outshines that and is worth it all. The beauty in knowledge and education outweighs the troubles.

The Inside Coming Out: The History of Psychology Through Art Movements

 Lorianna Fernandez, Verrazzano Class of 2022, completed major in Art and minor in Psychology 

 

The time creating my capstone was filled with long days, long nights, self-doubt, short bursts where I felt confident in my work, and a very hard lesson in the utilization of proper ventilation using oil paints and solvents.

This process really made it pertinent that I had to get into the mindset of an artist of a certain movement. It had to go a step beyond simply imitating, to get the structure and elements across. It helped me as an artist figure out my own personal style and see my commonalities among the paintings, as well as things I felt uncomfortable with or would not do in my own work. I also gained an even deeper understanding of how psychology affects art and how the two are so similar.

In my psychology and art classes, I am always shocked at the polarizing amount of people who are involved in studying both avenues, some in hopes to combine them as a career, so it was charming to see that they have always been closely tied to each other.

If this topic was going to be further researched, there could definitely be more art movements incorporated. There are thousands of niche art movements dating from the Renaissance to now, and a lot of significant events in the realm of psychology that could be discussed. There could be a much lengthier introspection of artists in each movement and investigating their own personal lives and how their art movement reflects that as well as the significant trends in psychology at their time. I feel like this would be a very interesting look into the artists that we are familiar with but also ones we have not heard of yet. This was overall a really interesting and personally stimulating project and I am happy about everything I could take away from it.